Portland Weekend

May 23, 20131:26 PM PDT

A week after an exciting 2-2 draw between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers at BC Place last weekend, the rivalry now turns it's attention back to Oregon, this time on the youth side. The next few days see a number of Whitecaps FC youth teams down in Portland for important matches.

The ‘Caps U-23 squad kicked off the weekend by battling the Timbers U-23s in a United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development (PDL) match at JELD-WEN Field on Thursday.

Next up on the schedule is the annual Portland Timbers Friendship Cup this weekend, featuring three Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency teams, as well as the ‘Caps Girls Elite team.

The Pre-Residency group will include the ‘Caps U-15, U-14 and U-13 teams.

“It should be a really exciting weekend for our boys,” said Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency head coach Bart Choufour. “Locally here we play older teams, so this weekend will be a great opportunity to test ourselves against really good competition in our own age group. It will be especially exciting to play our fellow MLS foes in Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes. It will also be great off the field to really build our team spirit, as well as do some video match analysis. We’re all really looking forward to it.”

The Girls Elite team, meanwhile, have gotten off to an undefeated start in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) with a 3W-0L-0D record and +8 goal differential. The team also recently battled to a 0-0 road draw in a specially organized match against Seattle Sounders Women. For head coach Jesse Symons, the goal will be to continue that momentum in Portland.

“We’re bring a young squad down to Portland, so this will be a great chance for them to get some good minutes and showcase their talent against top quality competition from Oregon,” said Symons. “We’ll also use this weekend to help them work on their individual details and plans to establish themselves.”